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Meet the UA's New President on June 1

Meet the UA's New President on June 1

The campus community is invited to welcome the UA's incoming president, Robert C. Robbins, during an event on the west side of Old Main on June 1, his first official day.

The welcome is not only a chance to meet the new president, but an opportunity to give Robbins "a sense of how committed the UA community is to the University," said Lynn Nadel, Regents' Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science, chair of the faculty, and a member of the search committee tasked with finding a successor to President Ann Weaver Hart.

"Based on my contacts with Dr. Robbins during the search – and since – I am very hopeful that he will bring a high level of energy and engagement to his position," Nadel said. "His prior accomplishments speak to someone who has great strengths in bringing people with diverse agendas together for the common good, and this will be important at the UA."

Robbins, who will be the UA's 22nd president, has been CEO of Texas Medical Center since 2012. An internationally recognized cardiac surgeon, Robbins served as professor and chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and was founding director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute.

The welcome on June 1 will have a short speaking program but primarily is meant to give the campus community a chance to meet Robbins.

"It's good that we get the chance to have some time with the new president in a social setting and not have it be strictly about business," said Christina Rocha, senior accountant in the Office of Research, Discovery & Innovation and chair of the Classified Staff Council. "I hope the campus community will benefit greatly from this opportunity to meet the new president."

"I am hopeful about his commitment to shared governance and seeking feedback and input from all stakeholders of the university," she said, adding that she would like him to be "a positive, visible force on campus."

The welcome will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. For UA Health Sciences employees and students who would like to attend, shuttle service will be provided, picking up on the west side of Martin Avenue, just south of Mabel Street. Shuttles will run every 15 minutes with the last pickup at Old Main at 10 a.m.